Welding systems reside at the core of the modern industrial age. From massive automobile assembly operations to automated manufacturing environments, these systems facilitate joining in ever more complicated manufacturing operations. One such example of a welding system includes an electric arc welding system. This may involve movement of a consumable electrode, for example, toward a work piece while current is passed through the electrode and across an arc developed between the electrode and the work piece. The electrode may be a non-consumable or consumable type, wherein portions of the electrode may be melted and deposited on the work piece. Often, hundreds or perhaps thousands of welders are employed to drive multiple aspects of a construction process, wherein sophisticated controllers enable individual welders to operate within relevant portions of the process.
For example, some of these aspects relate to control of power and waveforms supplied to the electrode, movements or travel of a welding tip during welding, electrode travel to other welding points, gas control to protect a molten weld pool from oxidation at elevated temperatures and provide ionized plasma for an arc, and other aspects such as arc stability to control the quality of the weld. These systems are often deployed over great distances in larger construction environments and many times are spread across multiple locations. Given the nature and necessities of modern and more complex operations however, welding systems designers, architects, and suppliers face increasing challenges about upgrading, maintaining, controlling, servicing, and supplying various welding locations.
Modern high-end welding systems often feature one or more user interface panels that provide operator(s) the ability to change the welding mode and/or procedure, manipulate output parameters, save, and/or recall previous parameters in a plurality of memory “slots.” Each memory slot contains the selected welding procedure, any associated parameters, and/or limit settings needed for welding with the given procedure. When a certain memory slot is recalled, the name of the procedure, as assigned by the manufacturer, and its associated parameters are shown on the user interface display(s).
While each welding procedure has its own name per se (e.g., “PulseSoft,” “CV,” “RapidArc”) as assigned by the manufacturer, it is often desirable for the end user to assign a unique name to each procedure and subset of procedures that is more descriptive and meaningful for each individual operator and/or welding system user. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for systems and/or methodologies that facilitate comprehensive identification and designation of welding procedures.